RP:Turnabout Backtalker

From HollowWiki

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.



Summary: When two vampire lovers find trouble in paradise, Rorin is there to lend a helping hand. Unfortunately, passions burn hot and in a jealous fit they each put bounties on one another's head. Rorin manages to talk them out of it but it's too late; Quintessa and Kasyr have caught wind of the bounty. Seeing an opportunity to ease their machinations in Vailkrin, Quintessa and Kasyr opt to assassinate the couple whilst they sleep in their boudoir, effectively collecting both bounties and successfully burning Rorin's happy ending.


“Turnabout Backtalker” (Hunt Details)
Rank: E
Suggested complexity: One to two RP sessions, either with a partner or via solo writing
Location: Kelay Village
Immediate Reward: 1500 gold
Description: A recent argument between two vampires at Kelay Tavern has resulted in both parties issuing hunt marks on the other. The characters, which you will freely write as NPCs in your RP, are named Vale and Alen. Vale is a golden-haired “pretty boy”; Alen is a rough and tumbling warrior sort. Plan an attack on your chosen target, who will be hanging around Kelay lackadaisical, awaiting the death of their rival. Remember: you’re dealing with a vampire!
Bonus chance: If you choose to eliminate both vampires, you will gain additional experience and 500 extra gold.


Kelay Town Square

You have stepped into the center of this magnificent little village. To your south stands a spacious white building. Slender decorative columns and a menagerie of flowers line its anterior, while several maple trees, ever with the seasons, provide ample shade along a narrow walkway leading to two large red doors -- the building's only entrance. To the north sits an old log cabin. A worn stone path leads to its small brown door, slightly hidden by tall shrubbery surrounding the area. The dusty road continues to your east and west.


Rorin had come to what he felt was a satisfying conclusion on this matter. First he had gone to the blonde one - perhaps this was biased believing an unmassuming thin man was not the offender- but it turned out to be the right choice. Vale, as it turned out, was jealous because Alen had first kidnapped and then murdered one of Vales thralls and (weirdly voluntary but Rorin tried not to judge) sacrifices. Rorin thought this was a perfectly reasonable excuse for putting a warrant of execution out on a fellow vampire, as confusing as vampire politics seemed to be. So Rorin went to Alen not to kill him for vengeance but demand an explanation for his side of the story and wanting Vale dead. It turns out ages ago Vale had bought put Alens home estate property, and Alen was seeking vengeance for what he thought was a recent defamation of said family home. So it went back and forth again, and it turns out Alen killed Vales thrall because he was jealous of how good they looked together and Vale had renovated the home because he intended to host Alens family in it. So... Rorin worked out where this was going and forged a couple letters for them to meet up.


Quintessa knew how to remain unseen when she wanted to, and with the aid of the lightweight stealth cloak that was gifted to her a few days ago she could remain unheard too. Using the powerful enchantments of her invisibility cloak, the changeling stalks Rorin closely. She had heard word of his kindness and his proclivity to desire peaceful resolutions through the warrior's guild and the strange swamp-girl immediately began to think of ways she could take advantage of this trait she mistook for weakness. The hunt concerning two vampires caught Quintessa's mismatched eyes early on, but when the changeling heard that Rorin of all people was taking it on she had to see if his reputation was true. Turns out Rorin was a nice lad after all, nice enough to convince two vampires that hated each other to meet up. 'This is perfect!' thought the hex blade as she memorized the meet-up coordinates, 'I bet Master Kasyr would be interested in killing some errant vampires,' So Quintessa went to the kensai and told him everything she knew about it. "So, there are to of them," she explained, "And I'm thinking that if we collect the bounties for both of them, we'll get double pay. Sound good?" Quintessa could easily lead Kasyr to the place Rorin had specified. "Kelay Town Square, I think is where we can find them."


Kasyr may be a bit jaded when it comes to all things Vailkrin, so when Quintessa alerted him to the situation, he was more than willing to come along. As he donned the stealth cloak and tagged after the changeling, he was already in the process of framing it as pre-emptive problem resolution. Less vampire nobles meant less paperwork, right? The kensai nods in assent to himself, "Which one do you want? And what's the signal?" Which is to say, he's hoping there's going to be one, or at least the illusion of co-ordination. In any case, once those queries were out of the way, he'd simply focus on the task at hand- which in this case, was to quietly clamber up the back of the first available building he could in Kelay without being caught, so that he could surreptitously make his way along the rooftops. This was, after all, still in the stakeout phase of the venture- and whilst he's hoping that things might be able to be resolved soon- Kasyr isn't quite holding his breath, which is also why he's brought some breed and cheese to munch on.


Rorin watched the two first throw words at each other, then nearly throw blows, unt finally they threw their arms around each other and put lips together instead of fists. The paladin was overjoyed to have resolved this problem peacefully. It was clear to him that both of them belonged together - jealous, obsessive, crazy vampires that had long conned themselves into each others lives. How could a union be more perfect and weird! He announced that he could even marry them through the power of the Devout Guild and they said they'd schedule it immediately, right after spending a night eating dinner in their renewed future family home making new thralls and inviting people to sacrifice themselves for blood letting in what Rorin thought of as an insane but entirely voluntaru way. Then at the ceremony they'd recite their vows by tearing up the bounty contracts for each other and singing a marriage license together! It was all so freakish and beautiful. Or so Rorin thought...


Quintessa had different ideas about how this story would end. Although the odd girl thought it was heartwarming and adorable to see the vampires confess their love to each other, but she knew the pattern. They'd work out well for a few weeks until the blood has cooled and they need a new excuse to make things exciting again. Vampire nobles loved drama, and these two men were no exception. "You take the pretty one- Vale. I wanna fight the big one, Alen. We'll stalk them for a while, you hang out close by. When I sneak in close enough I'll cast a flashy spell to signal you. They'll be so distracted by me that they won't even see you coming." With what Quintessa considered her tactical genius spoken aloud, she returns to the safety of her invisibility cloak. With so much happiness and mirth going on, sneaking inside was an easy task, her muffed and invisible form gliding through an open door or window like a shadow. The Monster of Black Pond was always in her element when stalking unsuspecting victims. Here Quintessa could linger while they dined and fantasized about their future together, drifting from one dark corner of the house to the next like a deranged serial killer. In many ways Quintessa was a serial killer, and these two vampires would just become two more names added to a long list. 'Soon,' the hex blade thought, listening to them laugh into the night as they retire to their room. Soon she would signal for Kasyr and Operation Less Paperwork would commence.


Kasyr , at some point, simply drops off the radar, though the reasons for his seeming absence are far more mundane. After all, the swordsman had carried the Moniker 'Ashen' for years as a member of the assassins guild- that affinity for murder being yet another point of common ground between changeling and Kensai, albeit unspoken. Admittedly, the prospect of navigating a party was somewhat more daunting for the swordsman, which is why he'd chosen to scale the wall of the manse itself, favoring a window on the third floor that, so that he could avoid navigating any of the debauchery occuring downstairs. Whilst he'd considered the possibility that entering as a 'sacrifice' or willing prospective could have worked, the potential of being reocgnized was far too high without further preperation. Thus, the Kensai does his best to stake out the upper floors, not only to seek out what is apt to be the master bedroom, but also to mentally file away which offices, laundry hampers, and other miscellany might be useful to note. Fun fact, those hampers are also -really- useful to hide in when a bumbling sacrifice-to-be staggers upstairs after one drink too many and proceeds to relieve themselves in what looks to be a linen closet. ...Well, at the very least, having nothing to do but waiting for this guy to leave does allow Kasyr the free time to reach out with his empathic senses to try and pinpoint where Quintessa is, and by extension their prey-to-be.


Rorin would soon hear the news and nearly weep. As Vale and Alen had lain finally, peacefully, in a kind of blood drunken slumber, they had been mercilessly slaughtered in their sleep. Rorin had dawned his vestments and gone over selections of verses, prayers, and other sayings for the wedding ceremony, when they were discovered to have been nearly gutted, stabbed, and exsanguinated at their death. There had perhaps been some struggle - some things tipped over, spilled, ripped- but there was no sign of the perpetrators. By the time Rorin would be able to forget about the entire transaction, the bounty collectors would be rolling in gold. Just another meaningless aimless death to fill the purses of others. Such injustice filled this world. He would stay in Kelay with a heavy heart and consider drinking away his sorrows. What a life to lead for a boy of only 19. Arkhen guide and help him now...


Quintessa grins with glee. The party was dying down, guests pairing off, drunkards stumbling home, and the masters of the house thoroughly preoccupied in their boudoir. This was the changeling's opening. Sneaking to an open window away from prying eyes, Quintessa drops her invisibility enchantment and reaches her hand outside. With a simple flick of her wrist she would fire a bolt of arcane energy silently in the air where it would brightly flash with lime-green light before fading away to nothing. Hopefully, Kasyr would see this signal and know that the time to strike was now. Muffled footsteps carry Quintessa through the darkness upstairs to the room the two men shared, her dark aura slipping under the door before it cracks ajar to allow the changeling to drift in unnoticed. She wants to laugh, to cackle madly when she sees them sleeping, but she stifles her mirth and draws her katana. 'Soon,' she thinks again, waiting for Kasyr before she brought the blade down to bring about the vampire's true death. 'Soon...'


Kasyr might not be in the best spot to see the bit of impromptu fireworks, but it does serve a purpose nonetheless. And that's because it does an admirable job of startling the guest who was busy making use of the Linen closest in a decidely non-kosher manner. It's during the aftermath that Kasyr creeps out of the hamper, while the sod is busy alternating between shaking himself off, and -trying- to dry his trouser leg off with the towels he's already ruined. A fact which manages to distract him up until the moment the Kensai rabbit punches him in the back of the neck. Some distant part of himself can already feel Quintessas bloodlust escalating, and sense her shuffling with a certain degree of certainty in the manse- and it's for that reason that the Kensai expedites this process, whirling the drunk around just long enough to cup a hand over his mouth, and deliver what is very likely a literally ball breaking knee to his nuts. The high pitched squeak that's caught against his palm almost manages to elicit some pity, but the moistness on his trouser leg quells any sympathy the Kensai was starting to feel- and allows him to dump the body into the hamper as little more than an afterthought. Business sorted, Kasyr makes his way over towards the changelings location with all due haste- his katana clearing from his sheath mere moments after he's crossed the threshold of the bedroom door, alongside a small vial from his coat. Suffice to say, Quintessa doesn't need to hold off sating her bloodlust for long, as Kasyr wastes no time in emptying the contents of the vial across his blade (dragon's blood, of course), and then sweeping it down the length of the body in one swift stroke meant to split him down the center- the mundane edge of the blade more than up to the job courtesy of the blood. It's only in the aftermath of the stroke that it dawns on him that they've possibly missed out on a pefectly good opportunity to frame a rival house for the murder. Well. Maybe next time they need to foil one of Rorin's Good intentioned endeavors.